Washington Post | By Marc Meredith (University of Pennsylvania) and Michael Morse (Ph.D. student in Government). Meredith and Morse, authors of the 2014 paper cited by Cruz, detail how their research does not support his claim. Also noted in their reply: research by Vesla Weaver (Ph.D. '07, now Yale University) and Traci Burch (Ph.D. '07, now Northwestern University).